Dante Ferrazza v. Barry Mintzes

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

In this habeas corpus case, the evidence presented against petitioner at his state trial for first degree murder shows that he participated in the murder of an individual who had been strangled to death, weighted with cement blocks and thrown into a lake. The Respondent Warden appeals from the District Court’s judgment granting the writ. The District Court held — we believe, incorrectly — that the state trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on a lesser included homicide offense in addition to first degree murder violated defendant’s constitutional right to due…